Thursday, March 09, 2017

Rebuttal to Groups Supporting Female Draft Registration

"In July 2016, a letter in support of draft registration for women, signed by 16 organizations, was sent to the chairs and ranking members of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees. The joint letter was coordinated by the national American Civil Liberties Union and was sent on ACLU letterhead. Its signers included, among others, the Service Women’s Action Network, American Association of University Women, Human Rights Watch, NAACP, National Center for Lesbian Rights, and National Organization for Women. Their goal in urging the extension of draft registration to women was very narrow: advancing the cause of gender equality.

"The fact that groups like the ACLU have historically opposed military conscription in the U.S. made the letter all the more frustrating to those who have been trying for decades to end draft registration and terminate the Selective Service System. In response to the ACLU-coordinated letter, COMD and a number of other organizations wrote and sent the following statement to various signers of the ACLU-coordinated letter. Because of space limitations, this is a slightly abridged version of the statement.

"(...)we hope also that your organization will publicly support ending the registration for men and Congressional proposals to abolish the Selective Service System (H.R. 4523 and S. 3041 in the current Congress)." Read the article: Rebuttal to Groups Supporting Female Draft Registration - Committee Opposed to Militarism and the Draft | Originally Published in Draft NOtices, January-March 2017 | nnomy.org

"Norway extended compulsory military service to women in summer 2016. Women currently make up about ten percent of the Norwegian Armed Forces. All medically fit women aged between 19 and 44 years will be obliged to complete at least 19 months of military service."
Draft for Women: Female Conscription Worldwide - February 07, 2017